Well we did it...... turned em loose!

It was hard..... I just dont want to take a chance on loosing one of them beautiful egg laying babes! But we turned them loose for the first time into our back yard yesterday rather than just leaving them in their coop and run. Its a 100x150 yard but chainlink fenced to 5 feet height. I wasnt worried about predators but i didnt want one of the girls to get spooked and take flight over the fence then not be able to figure out how to get back into the yard before dark. All went well, most eventful part of it was watching one find something in the yard that the rest of the crew thought they had to have to and they would all take off like a shot at a full run to get there ASAP. Had a few "flights" at about 12 inches of elevation for 30 or 40 feet but that was all the flyhing they did.

DENALI, I decided that the hens would only be outdoors when someone was out with them. During warm weather, we spend quite a bit of time in the backyard and so they are out - lots. They don't get out of their pen whenever we walk thru (I think if they did, they'd whine every time they'd see us ) but often they'd just be out for an hour or even just a half-hour. I'd find a treat when they needed to go back in and they quickly learned to come when called and everything was wonderful because there was a treat for them in the henyard.
When they would 1st show up on the lawn, it was always the same: "We're free! We're free!!" Then they'd realize that they were walking on food! "Oh yum, grass!" This would happen 3 or 4 times a day on some days . . . "We're free!!" "What's this?" "Grass!" "Here's some clover!" "Buuugg!!" "What's that you've got over there?!?" "Well enuf of this, now for a nice relaxing dust bath . . ." "Boss, i hear the boss! Fooooood!"
Sometimes they'd hightail it out of the pen and then turn around immediately and go back to lay an egg in the nestbox.

Oh, and with regards to staying in the backyard with 5' and 6' fences and a 3' gate - - they just would not go over even the gate (I've had exclusively Australorps and Brahmas & no roosters over the last 15 years). Even tho' they could travel around on the far side of the house and arrive in the front yard - that would only happen once. Then a terrifying creature, that may have vaguely resembled the boss would show up and behave in an outrageous fashion probably with some intent to eat them right then and there !!! "Never goin' back there, ever!"